“Principals and teachers, I predict, will be afraid to welcome students with disabilities, students who are English language learners, who have emotional difficulties, who come to school late in the year or who have a history of low performance in their classrooms,” Biklen said.

In their letter, the professors referenced the adverse effect high-stakes testing has on widening racial/ethnic gaps, as evidenced by numerous studies. They also pointed out that high numbers of the city’s public school graduates ultimately fail the City University of New York entry tests and are then required to take remedial courses.

Speaking at a news conference along with other panel members at New York Civil Liberties Union headquarters, Diane Ravitch, an education professor at NYU and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that “high-stakes testing -- and educators know this -- is bad for children, bad for teachers, bad for schools.

We’re now using tests as a one-size-fits-all measure for everything -- to close schools, fire teachers, decide which kids will be held back and which will be promoted,” she added.

As reported by The Post-Standard, panelists say the Regents and the state Education Department have not been willing to listen to opponents of their testing policies. Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, is hopeful that the petition and news conference will encourage the public to join in a wider discussion of the issue.